Disposable absorbent garments, such as diapers, are well known and are widely used for infants and incontinent adults to absorb waste discharges from the human body and retain the same until the garment is discarded. Such disposable incontinent briefs and diapers generally are composed of an inner moisture absorbent batt or layer of material with an outer water-impervious thin plastic sheet suitably secured thereto. The garment has opposed elongate sides which may or may not be contoured and which are located to reside in the crotch area of the wearer, and opposed ends which overlie and surround the waist of the wearer.
To enhance the aesthetic appearance and reduce surface tackiness of the outer plastic sheet of the diaper, the sheet is generally embossed with a surface pattern to simulate the appearance of a woven fabric. Generally the outer surface pattern of the sheet is a raised diamond or square pattern running lengthwise between the ends of the diaper and separated by recessed channels or grooves. One such embossed plastic sheet or film construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,835.
The opposite ends of the diaper are generally secured to each other about the wearer's waist by adhesively coated fastener tabs. One or two such fastener tabs generally are provided along opposite side edges of one end of the diaper and have adhesively coated end portions which are manually released from the tab structure and secured by pressure to the outer surface of the plastic sheet at the other end of the diaper to secure the two ends about the wearer's waist.
At times, it is desirable to unfasten and reposition the fastener tabs of the disposable garment, as when the garment is used as a training diaper, or when the initial securement of the garment about the waist is too tight or too loose. In such cases, the ends of the adhesive fastener tabs must be peeled from the outer surface of the plastic sheet and subsequently adhesively reattach to the sheet when the garment is adjusted. Because of the need for a strong bond of the fastener tab adhesive to the plastic sheet to ensure positive securement of the garment on the body of the wearer, the fastener tab cannot generally be removed from the surface of the plastic sheet without tearing and pulling away the thin water-impervious plastic outer cover of the garment.
In an effort to provide a releasable and refastenable fastener tab, disposable garment fastener tabs more recently have been constructed with an additional short, intermediate plastic reinforcing strip which has a non-adhesive face attached to the adhesive end portion of the fastener tab, and an inner adhesively coated face for direct securement to the thin plastic sheet of the diaper. Upon initial securement of the freed end of the tab to the plastic sheet of the garment, the intermediate plastic reinforcing strip adhesively attaches by pressure directly to the outer surface of the plastic sheet. When it is desired to release the end of the fastener tab from the garment, it is pulled from the surface of the reinforcing strip which stays attached to and reinforces the thin plastic sheet. When the adhesive end portion of the tab is to be reattached to the surface of the plastic sheet, it must be directly repositioned on the reinforcing plastic strip, otherwise the end of the tab can not be removed again from the plastic sheet without tearing the sheet. Although this modified fastener tab construction does permit removal and reattachment of the tab to the outer plastic sheet of the garment, it does not permit repeated repositioning of the tab at other locations on the garment to adjust the same on the wearer.